The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for repairing ligaments, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for replacing torn ligaments. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reattaching ligaments or replacing ligaments with man-made substitutes. An example of a ligament of the human body which can be reattached or replaced with a man-made substitute by the method and apparatus of the present invention is the anterior cruciate ligament of the human knee.
It is frequently necessary to repair, and in extreme circumstances, to completely replace torn ligaments, for example ligaments of the human body. An example of a frequently torn ligament is the anterior cruciate ligament located in the human knee.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for reattaching or replacing ligaments such as the anterior cruciate ligament. It is not limited to such ligament but the application of the present invention to the replacement of that ligament is particularly effective for explanatory purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. RE 34,293 to Goble et al. describes a ligament attachment method and apparatus and in particular, describes such a method and apparatus for the replacement of the cruciate ligaments.
The device of the Goble reference utilizes a prosthetic ligament which includes at one end a flattened cone and at the other end an expandable cone which is expanded by an expansion anchor.
Since the forces tending to rupture the ligament would tend to pull the cones through the bores in the two bones to which the prosthetic ligament is attached, it is believed that the securement method shown in the Goble et al. reference is not sufficiently strong.